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Saturday, March 07, 2009

I wanna fly away

It's been brought to my attention that I have really been slipping the TV reviewing element of my blog. And yes, yes I have, but, luckily for ege, I just watched a TON of make-up television all at once, to catch up after my trip across the pond, so I have LOTS to say about LOTS of shows (if you're not a fan of this part of my blogging life, you've been warned). Lest anyone read the following list and get truly alarmed on my behalf, let me just say that all of this viewing takes place while I am doing lots of other things like laundry and cleaning and researching the latest parenting problem and unpacking and playing pretend kitchen with Baby J and making and eating lunch, etc, etc, etc. I am a serious multitasker!:

Heroes: as one of the girls from GFY said recently, I stopped watching this season after a few episodes and I've never been happier. I discovered I was about 5 eps behind, tried to get through the first one, couldn't do it, and just decided I was better off. The story hasn't been compelling for me at all this season, and I was really just going through the motions of watching it anyway, so it's officially off the list, because I just can't take the inanity.

Grey's Anatomy: there is nothing more special than watching Callie explore her newfound love of girls in a bathroom in a bar with your father-in-law watching along with you. As I explained to him, I KNOW this is a bad show, soapy and silly in the extreme, but I remain sucked in, now because I'm waiting to see how they get rid of my least favorite characters (some of whom they have just dropped off the screen entirely with very little fanfare--see much missed Dr. Hahn and the annoying Sadie) and because I still love McDreamy. I did like having Addison return from Private Practice for a few (what was it, like 10?) episodes but that doesn't make her own show any better, sadly. Even with all the Grey's crossovers, PP was still just sad and mopey, mothers abandoning children and babies with diseases notwithstanding (come to think of it, they could stand some peppier story lines, no?).

Life: it finally came back while I was gone, and it's still as snappy as ever. As I was telling the husband, one of the things I like best about this show is that the main character is corny and everyone around him treats him as such. In other words, unlike most other shows on right now, they don't pretend his jokes are funny; they act like he's bizarre, so the show never takes itself too seriously, which is such a novel concept. Sadly for me but happily for her, his partner is pregnant in real life but not on the show, so we now get the added bonus of watching how they disguise her pregnancy (so far, tactics have included a new haircut--look up there, shiny!--looser blouses--she is tiny and has worn only fitted things thus far--and lots of sitting--she spent one entire episode taking a lie detector test for the FBI--tee hee!). Seriously, people, why are you not watching this show?

Friday Night Lights: along those same lines, get thee to a tv or computer immediately and get caught up with the third season of FNL, still as glorious as ever. It's the subtleties of the episodes that get me, moments such as the time when the coach opens the car door without saying a word for his wife after she is right about something, in silent acknowledgment, or when the now demoted senior quarterback sits eating his grandmother's favorite sandwich cookies to console himself about his loss of status or even the coach's agonizing decision to demote said senior. As the husband points out, this show really isn't about football at all, a negative for him, a huge positive for me!

Burn Notice: I think there are perhaps even fewer people watching this show than are watching FNL but it's almost as good. Michael the former spy is deep into finding who kicked him out of the biz, and the show's frothy fun is not overrun by the minimal back story. In other words, it's not a huge commitment to watch this show (LOST, I'm talking to you), so what's stopping you?

Lost: my head is spinning. The time travel/physics mumbo-jumbo is making me crazy. Fortunately, they've also ramped up the human interest stories and finally (finally!) let the women share some of the spotlight. Sun the gun wielding revenge monger, Juliet the continually impressive Jill-of-all-trades, less Kate (I've really had enough of her), Charlotte and her past, even Daniel's mother the freaky science school marm, all are great additions to plotting. And the pace of the show does seem to have accelerated since they settled on an end date, all of which combines to breath some new life into what was once floundering narrative.

Bones: the most consistently fun of all my viewing experiences, Bones continues to shine. There is talk of taking the core friendship into dangerous romantic territory, but I am ignoring these (I hope) unfounded rumors (la la LA, I can't hear you!) and hoping they avoid the well trod terrain into cancellation as walked by such shows as diverse as Moonlighting and The X-Files.

ER: as ashamed as I am to admit it, I've come back to ER for the (could it really be?) final season. I hardly recognize anyone anymore, but I'm not alone. Carter and his cronies are returning episode by episode, and the only people who can welcome them back are Chuny the nurse, Malik the orderly, and random EMTs. Seriously, Carter came back in one episode and saw some burly African American EMT and said "Robert (or whatever), it's good to see a familiar face!" And I'm thinking, I'm pretty sure that guy didn't have a name until just that moment and has he really been on the show that long and, man, now is a good time to be a bit character on ER! They're the glue that holds everything together! Frankly, it's laughable. So I'm enjoying the "very special season," though not perhaps for the reasons the producers might like.

1 comment:

Yes! Good thing I was actually checking your blog to see if you were back from GB yet or I may have missed this crucial post. And now I know the correct label to look for ("pop up video"). Lost is very confusing, but I'm excited to see the interactions between the original cast (which was always the best part of the show), now that they've spent 3 years apart. David says everyone at his work LOATHES Kate (I do not). I'll have to check out FNL soon, perhaps on Netflix (I hate watching on computer). I think Heroes is getting better and Greys is getting worse, so maybe you should rethink your viewing priorities. Glad you made it back safe from GB.